According to its creators, it can fry chicken wings, French fries, and other foods, season them, and plate them all autonomously. It’s called “the Wingman” and it’s the first fast food robot launched by Nala Robotics.
“The Wingman is our latest robot to help restaurants and other food providers boost efficiency in the kitchen and scale production, while minimizing the potential for contamination,” Ajay Sunkara, CEO of Nala Robotics, said in a statement.
“It’s no secret that chicken wings are a very popular food choice in America and across the globe, prepared in a variety of styles and cuisines. This is where our technology is essential, where we can cook an endless array of dishes, while at the same time meet high consumer demand as labour shortages continue to challenge the industry worldwide.”
According to Nala, Wingman can cook multiple different foods at the same time and season them individually. It can take foods out of a frozen storage and dispensing area, deep fry them, season them, and plate them ready to serve. Wingman can also bread chicken, toss fries, and add dry rub to wings.
At USD$3,000 per month, Wingman is already cheaper than a human worker. In fact, significantly cheaper. At USD$22/hour, Wingman will save employers 75 percent on wages, assuming 18 hours of operation per day over an average 30-day month. Naturally, restaurants that are open 24/7 will see even more savings.
All of which means, as robots get better and humans get more expensive, we might seem massive job loss.
Of course, the reality is you’re still going to need people to fill the freezer with food, clean, take the food to customers, and manage payment. Robot proponents argue that this frees people up to do what they’re best at: higher-value tasks like engaging with customers. Making restaurant robots, not a human replacement, but the perfect wingman.
